[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 151 (Friday, October 24, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13189-S13192]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      FOREIGN OPERATIONS, EXPORT FINANCING, AND RELATED PROGRAMS 
                        APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2004

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will now 
proceed to the consideration of H.R. 2800, which the clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 2800) making appropriations for foreign 
     operations, export financing, and related programs for the 
     fiscal year ending September 30, 2004, and for other 
     purposes.


                           Amendment No. 1965

                (Purpose: In the nature of a substitute)

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I have a substitute amendment at the 
desk, and I ask for its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Kentucky [Mr. McConnell], for himself and 
     Mr. Leahy, proposes an amendment numbered 1965.

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
amendment be agreed to and considered as original text for the purposes 
of further amendment; further, that no points of order be waived by 
this agreement.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 1965) was agreed to.
  (The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of 
Amendments.'')
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, my friend from Vermont and I come to 
floor today hoping we can dispose of the Foreign Operations bill in 
short order. That short order will not be today, but we believe we will 
have a limited number of amendments and, hopefully, an opportunity to 
wrap this bill up within a day or so--Monday or Tuesday.
  Our respective staffs have been burning the midnight oil reviewing 
the amendments that we are aware of, and I strongly encourage all 
Senators to offer their amendments on Monday so we can wrap this bill 
up as quickly as possible.
  Let me just say a very few words about the measure before us.
  While the Senate's allocation is $796 million below the President's 
request, it is also $970 million above the House of Representatives. 
Unfortunately, our conference allocation will be closer to the House 
level, which will make conferencing the bill that much more of a 
challenge.
  This measure provides nearly $1.4 billion for the President's new 
HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria initiative for those programs under 
the subcommittee's jurisdiction, which is $10 million above that 
request.
  Up to $250 million is available for a contribution to the global 
fund, and $150 million is provided for the President's International 
Mother and Child HIV Prevention Initiative. This amount includes $700 
million for the Global AIDS Initiative.
  It provides $1 billion for the Millennium Challenge assistance, which 
is $300 million below the request, and $100 million for the famine 
fund.
  The bill fully funds the request for numerous accounts, including 
international disaster assistance; transition initiatives; 
international narcotics control and law enforcement; migration and 
refugee assistance; nonproliferation, anti-terrorism, demining and 
related programs; international military education and training; and 
international organizations and programs.
  The bill provides increased funding for the Child Survival and Health 
Programs Fund, development assistance, assistance for Eastern Europe 
and the Baltic States, and assistance for the independent states of the 
former Soviet Union.
  Given the $796 million cut we had to make, this bill is below the 
request in the Economic Support Fund, Andean Counterdrug Initiative, 
Peace Corps, debt restructuring, foreign military financing, 
peacekeeping operations, and international financial institution 
accounts--all of those below the request. Most of those accounts are 
still funded, however, at or above their respective fiscal year 2003 
levels.
  Despite the cuts in the ESF and FMF accounts, full funding for 
Israel, Egypt, and Jordan is provided.
  Let me say a word or two about the ACI and the Peace Corps. While ACI 
is funded at $660 million, we provide authority to transfer $37 million 
from the international narcotics account, resulting in a funding level 
that is equal to last year's. For the Peace Corps, we provide $310 
million and authority to transfer $20 million from the Global AIDS 
Initiative to the Peace Corps for their HIV/AIDS activities abroad. 
This results in a funding level that is $29 million below the request.
  Let me close by thanking my good friend from Vermont for his input to 
this bill. I know he does not agree with everything in it. Frankly, I 
don't either. But we have worked hard to craft a bill born of 
compromise. I thank him for the cooperation and courtesy he continues 
to extend as the ranking member of this subcommittee.
  With that, Mr. President, once again let me say we hope to pass this 
bill very shortly after Monday.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I thank my good friend, the senior Senator 
from Kentucky, for his comments. I agree with him; I hope if people 
have amendments they will let us know right away. We will, of course, 
have the usual managers' package.
  Like most appropriations bills, this is a work of compromise. My 
friend from Kentucky and I have worked together for many years. 
Sometimes he is the chairman, and sometimes I am. We find common ground 
and we write bipartisan bills, which is the tradition of the 
Appropriations Committee.
  I thank Chairman McConnell and his staff for working so cooperatively 
with me and my staff on this bill, and I urge all Members to support 
it.
  I also thank Chairman Stevens and Senator Byrd for the allocation 
that was given to us. While it falls short of the President's budget 
request, I know they did well by us under the circumstances.
  Since the Senator from Kentucky has done a good job in summarizing 
the

[[Page S13190]]

bill, I want to mention a few highlights.
  First, it adds $23 million for child survival and health programs. 
These are the programs that provide lifesaving vaccines for diseases 
like polio and measles--diseases that we hardly ever see in this 
country but which kill or cripple millions overseas.
  These programs help stop the spread of viruses like Ebola and SARS, 
reduce needless pregnancy-related deaths, and provide aid to blind 
children and orphans.
  Second, the bill increases funding for development assistance by $78 
million. These funds pay for everything from education, to agriculture 
research, to democracy building. This is the core of our foreign aid 
budget. The bill adds $20 million for Eastern Europe and the former 
Soviet Union. Both Senator McConnell and I feel strongly that the 
administration is reducing assistance to these regions too quickly.
  The bill includes a very important provision to ensure greater 
transparency and accountability at the multilateral development banks.
  As in the past, there are provisions which seek to promote human 
rights and the rule of law in Serbia, Central Asia, Latin America, and 
elsewhere.
  I am concerned that much of the good work that Senator McConnell has 
done on this bill could be undone by our conference allocation.
  Even a split with the House allocation, which is $17.1 billion, would 
lead to deep cuts in many programs that are important to the President 
and important to Senators.
  Earlier this week, the memo from Secretary Rumsfeld reminded us all 
of the importance of foreign aid in combating terrorism.
  In that memo he wrote:

       Are we capturing, killing or deterring and dissuading more 
     terrorists every day than the madrassas and the radical 
     clerics are recruiting, training and deploying against us?

  I suspect the answer to that question is no, and that should deeply 
concern each one of us.
  Let me mention one example. In this bill we fund children's basic 
education. We use these funds to build schools and train teachers in 
countries such as Pakistan and Indonesia, to counter the influence of 
the madrassas.
  One would think that a wealthy Nation like ours would spend billions 
on education, especially in Muslim countries. It is in our self-
interest. But we could only provide $220 million in this bill for 
education, which is a mere $2 million above last year's level. It is 
also far less than most U.S. States spend, yet it is what we spend for 
the whole world.
  There are many other examples of how this budget falls far short of 
what we should be doing to combat poverty and counter the influence of 
anti-American extremism.
  Last wee, we passed a supplemental appropriations for Iraq. It 
included more than $20 billion for reconstruction in that one country.
  That is more than this entire foreign operations bill provides for 
the rest of the world.
  If we are serious about building better relations with the Muslim 
world, and overcoming the hatred that is growing among the masses of 
impoverished people in those countries, we need to put our money where 
our mouths are.
  The President's budget request for foreign operation is $18.8 
billion. This bill contains $18.2 billion.
  We have heard that our conference allocation may require us to cut 
hundreds of millions of dollars out of this bill.
  If the President cares about this budget, he need to act now to 
protect it in conference. He needs to pick up the phone and call the 
Republican leadership in the House and Senate.
  Without his help, deep cuts will be made to these programs. These 
cuts will not just hurt people overseas. They will hurt the United 
States.
  I want to briefly mention the issue of AIDS. Chairman McConnell and I 
did the best we could to increase funding for HIV/AIDS in this bill, 
but we simply did not have enough to get to the level that many 
Senators wanted.
  We have to do more. This is the worst public health crisis in 
history. There will be an amendment on this issue later, and I will 
have more to say on it then.
  Again, I wish all my jobs and assignments in the Senate were as easy 
as working with the distinguished senior Senator from Kentucky who is a 
close personal friend. While we come from different political 
philosophies, we join together in what we believe is in the best 
interests of the United States in this area.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I checked with the Democratic side. 
They have no objection to Senator DeWine being able to send an 
amendment to the desk.
  I ask unanimous consent that Senator DeWine be permitted to send an 
amendment to the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, is so ordered.


                           Amendment No. 1966

  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Ohio [Mr. DeWine], for himself, Mr. 
     Durbin, Mr. Coleman, Mr. Warner, Mr. Daschle, Mr. Leahy, and 
     Mr. Graham of South Carolina, proposes an amendment numbered 
     1966.

  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that further 
reading of the amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

          (Purpose: To increase asistance to combat HIV/AIDS)

       Insert where appropriate:


                         global aids assistance

       Sec.--.For an additional amount for ``Global AIDS 
     Initiative'', $289,000,000, to remain available until 
     September 30, 2006, for programs for the prevention, 
     treatment, and control of, and research on, HIV/AIDS, 
     tuberculosis, and malaria, which may include additional 
     contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, 
     and Malaria.

  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I rise this morning, along with my friends 
and colleagues, Senators Durbin, Coleman, Warner, Daschle, Leahy, and 
Graham of South Carolina, to offer an amendment that would increase 
this bill's current funding level for the global AIDS initiative by 
$289 million. This additional funding would bring the total fiscal year 
2004 allocation to $2.4 billion. This $2.4 billion would allow us to 
meet our goal of providing at least $2 billion in bilateral aid, and it 
would also allow us to meet our current matching commitment to the 
Global Fund. This money in this amendment would be distributed by the 
new AIDS coordinator, Randall Tobias, for the prevention, treatment, 
control of, and research on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.
  Mr. President, this clearly is the right thing to do. It is the right 
thing to do because AIDS is wiping out entire communities and, yes, we 
can truly say that AIDS has the potential to wipe out entire countries. 
It is the right thing to do because at least 8,000 people every single 
day--mothers, fathers, children, babies--are dying. And millions of 
others who are not on treatment, drugs, are suffering the painful 
effects of this disease.
  It is the right thing to do because we, thank heavens, because of 
great medical science and research, now have the ability and the 
resources to fight HIV/AIDS. We need to do it, we cannot delay, and we 
must act.
  We should be judged not just by what we do in society; I believe we 
should also be judged by what we don't do. We should be judged by what 
we are willing to tolerate. I say to my friends and colleagues in the 
Senate that we cannot tolerate inaction; we cannot, as a good and moral 
society, as a moral people, tolerate inaction. We, who have the ability 
to do something about this horrible crisis in the world today, must 
act.
  With this amendment, we will be able to do so much good. So I say to 
my colleagues that we should not and we must not tolerate a world where 
so many people are suffering from HIV/AIDS. We must not tolerate a 
world where the suffering and dying occurs and we have the ability and 
the tools

[[Page S13191]]

to help make a difference and to save lives.
  As we have discussed on the Senate floor before--and so many of my 
colleagues have talked about it--time is not on our side. People 
worldwide are dying this very moment. I have seen firsthand the 
devastation of HIV/AIDS. I know my colleague in the chair has, and I 
know so many of my other colleagues have as well.
  My wife Fran and I have traveled to a number of the 14 countries that 
President Bush has named to be the primary recipients of the global 
HIV/AIDS fund money. I know many of my colleagues, such as majority 
leader Bill Frist, Senators Durbin, Chafee, Coleman, Enzi, Nelson, 
Warner, Alexander, and so many others, have also witnessed firsthand 
the effects of AIDS in these nations. I have seen it in Haiti many 
times. I have also seen it in Guyana, Mozambique, Botswana, South 
Africa, Namibia. I have held in my arms babies who were dying of the 
disease. I have met mothers who have lost their children through AIDS, 
and I have met children who have lost their parents to AIDS. When you 
do this, as other Members know, you then can put a face on it. It is no 
longer just statistics; it is real people.
  When you come back home from those trips, you continue to see in your 
mind's eye those faces, and you see those children, and some of those 
children, after you get back home, in a few days or weeks are no longer 
on this Earth. When you put a face on it and you put names to this 
disease, the moral imperative in fighting it becomes very clear.

  There are things we can do right now, at this very moment, to fight 
HIV/AIDS. Fighting this global AIDS crisis cannot be business as usual, 
and it cannot be bureaucracy as usual. We cannot treat this crisis the 
same way we have other problems. This is an emergency.
  Truly, if there is anything that comes before us today on the Senate 
floor, this is an emergency. We don't have the luxury of time, as 
President Bush has said so eloquently. For each moment we delay, people 
die, and they die every moment.
  In our travels, Fran and I have seen groups, organizations, and 
individuals who are ready now to receive our money and our assistance, 
and that is the good news for us. There are people out there ready to 
go to work and who are working now--organizations, doctors, and nurses 
who have the ability to take the resources we can give them and get the 
job done. They are ready to go into action to deal with the HIV/AIDS 
problem. It is heartwarming to see them and talk with them because they 
are already doing such good work. They have proven track records. They 
are ready to go, and we just need to get them the money and allow them 
to get about the business of saving lives.
  As we do fight this disease, we cannot be timid. We cannot be afraid 
of failure. We need to take some chances. In doing so, the reality is 
that there are going to be some mistakes made. This is a very big 
undertaking. No one has ever tried to do what we are doing in the 
world. The truth is, the world has not faced such a crisis. We probably 
have to go back in history to the bubonic plague or something in the 
Medieval period to see the world face such a medical crisis. The good 
news is, unlike those times, we have the ability to do something about 
it.
  There will be some failures and there will be some foul-ups, but the 
fear of failure must not hold us back. We must move forward because 
lives are at stake.
  There are several actions we can take now because we know they work. 
We talked about this on the Senate floor, but it is such a wonderful 
issue to talk about and such a wonderful thing to see in action, as I 
know the Chair and other Members have. We have the ability today to 
provide an HIV-positive pregnant woman with the care and drugs to 
ensure that she will not give birth to a child who is also HIV 
positive.
  The statistics are very simple, the facts are very simple, and the 
remedy is so simple. If a woman today is pregnant and she is HIV 
positive, the odds are 30 percent she will give birth to a child who is 
HIV positive. In sub-Saharan Africa or in Haiti or in Guyana, there are 
programs today that will reduce those odds from 30 percent to 10 
percent or as low as 5 percent or 4 percent. They can do that for as 
little as $3 or $4. I am not saying $3 or $4 a day, I am talking about 
the total cost of $3 or $4. That is phenomenal. For as little as $3 or 
$4 and for a little treatment and a little expertise and getting that 
mother in for treatment, we can save a child from being born HIV 
positive. We can save a child from being condemned to die a very tough 
and horrible death. We can do it. It is a miracle. So we must act.
  These are some of the simple activities we can do, and do now, so 
long as the resources are available. This amendment will mean more 
people can be saved. It is as simple as that. More people will be saved 
by this amendment. In targeting health investments to fight HIV/AIDS, 
we can save lives. It is that simple. This amendment is an appropriate 
step, and I ask my colleagues for their support.

  We will have the opportunity next week to further debate this 
amendment. As I conclude, I wish to thank all the cosponsors of this 
amendment. I thank Senator Bill Frist who led our trip to Africa in 
August, which I think helped all of us fully understand not only the 
gravity of this crisis, but also it helped open our eyes to how many 
groups are out there, how many doctors are out there who have the 
ability to deliver the services and with whom we can work in the months 
ahead.
  Yes, it is going to be tough. Yes, it is going to be difficult. We 
know the problems. We saw those problems. But it also showed us good 
people are out there, organizations are out there, and it showed us 
there is a path to get this work done.
  I thank Majority Leader Frist for taking a number of Senators with 
him to Africa and helping educate all of us. In this work against AIDS, 
he is a medical doctor who truly understands this disease.
  I also thank Senator Rick Santorum. Senator Santorum has been a true 
advocate of trying to increase the dollars we are spending on this AIDS 
initiative. It was his idea to come up with these dollar figures, to 
increase this bilateral support. He worked these numbers and worked 
these numbers. He and I have talked now for the last month, going back 
and forth. I thank him for his commitment, for his passion, and his 
work in this area. We would not be where we are today without Senator 
Rick Santorum.
  Finally, I thank my colleague, Senator Dick Durbin, who could not be 
on the Senate floor today but who will be back Monday. I talked with 
him just a few moments ago by phone. He is someone who cares very 
passionately. Senator Durbin and I have offered two other amendments on 
the Senate floor in the past, both of which we have been able to adopt, 
and we have seen them make a difference.
  I traveled with Senator Durbin to Haiti. We worked on these problems 
in the past. He also cares passionately about this issue. He is someone 
who is very results oriented and someone who has made a difference in 
this field. I thank Senator Durbin for his commitment to the children 
and his commitment to this issue.
  I conclude by thanking my colleagues, Senator McConnell and Senator 
Leahy, for bringing a very good bill to the floor. This is a bill that 
a lot of people do not pay attention to, but it is a bill that does a 
tremendous amount of good around the world. It is an instrument of 
foreign policy, which is very important, but it is also a bill that 
saves lives every year, and it is a bill that spends U.S. money well to 
help our commitment to the children of the world, as well as making 
sure the United States is well represented around the world. I thank 
Senator McConnell and Senator Leahy for working in a bipartisan way to 
bring this bill to the Senate floor.
  We will be back in the Chamber next week to talk further about this 
amendment. I thank my colleague from Kentucky.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kentucky.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, before the Senator leaves the floor, I 
wish to express my admiration to the Senator from Ohio for his passion 
and leadership on this issue, what is clearly the most important public 
health issue in the world today.
  I listened carefully to his speech. It was quite moving, and I thank 
him for

[[Page S13192]]

what he is doing in this area. It is extremely important to the world.
  Mr. DeWINE. I thank my colleague.


            International Fund for Agricultural Development

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, the fiscal year 2004 foreign operations 
bill includes $15,004,000 for a U.S. contribution to the International 
Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD. Congress has been a strong 
supporter for IFAD since its inception, and these funds will enable 
IFAD to continue to expand its programs in the poorest countries.
  Unfortunately, the Appropriations Committee report accompanying the 
bill neglected to address a concern which I suspect is shared by 
Senators on both sides of the aisle who support IFAD. IFAD is the 
seventh largest multilateral contributor to the enhanced Heavily 
Indebted Poor Countries Debt Initiative, HIPC DI. However, IFAD still 
does not have access to the core resources of the companion HIPC DI 
Trust Fund. Currently, IFAD has to absorb 87.2 percent of the cost for 
participating in HIPC DI, while other multilateral development banks 
with full access absorb much smaller percentages. For this reason, I 
urge the administration to work with other donors to enable IFAD to 
gain access to the core resources of the HIPC Trust Fund.


            Rule of Law and Human Rights Programs in Russia

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, page 45 of the committee report 
accompanying the fiscal year 2004 foreign operations bill, Senate 
Report 108-106, discusses rule of law and human rights programs in 
Russia. The report mentions the Russian American Judicial Partnership 
and the Russian American Rule of Law Consortium. The report failed to 
mention another important program, the American Bar Association's 
Central and East European Law Initiative, CEELI, which is involved in 
training Russian lawyers in the adversary system, law school curriculum 
development, and improvement of gender equity in the legal system. Each 
of these organizations is doing important work, and we want to be sure 
that despite the decline in our assistance program in Russia that 
funding for these types of programs are continued. There is no more 
effective way for the United States to contribute to the political and 
economic development of Russia than by strengthening the rule of law 
and respect for human rights.


                Collaborative Research Support Programs

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, page 16 of the committee report 
accompanying the fiscal year 2004 foreign operations bill, Senate 
Report 108-106, discusses the Collaborative Research Support Programs. 
These programs, which involve 52 U.S. universities, have made 
immeasurable contributions in developing countries on a wide range of 
agriculture, environment, nutrition and development issues. USAID funds 
are leveraged with contributions from the universities and recipient 
countries.
  For fiscal year 2003, the committee recommended funding for the CRSPs 
at a higher level than in fiscal year 2002. However, despite that 
recommendation, funding was essentially flat lined. For fiscal year 
2004, the committee expresses its strong support for the CRSPs and 
recommends continued funding. I want to emphasize the importance of the 
CRSPs to the Congress, to the universities that participate, to the 
countries that benefit, and to U.S. foreign policy. We want USAID to 
expand its collaboration with U.S. universities that have research 
expertise on these issues. By that I mean that funding for the CRSPs 
should be increasing. An appropriate level for the CRSPs in fiscal year 
2004 would be $25 million. I also urge USAID to seriously consider 
allocating up to $2 million to fund and establish a CRSP focused on 
water security.


                American Universities in the Middle East

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I want to clarify a sentence in the 
committee report, Report 108-106, accompanying S. 1426, the fiscal year 
2004 foreign operations bill.
  On page 38 of the report, under the heading ``Middle East Partnership 
Initiative,'' the committee expresses support for using a portion of 
MEPI funds ``for scholarships for needy Muslim students at the American 
University of Beirut.'' We do support that, but we intended to also 
mention the American University in Cairo and the Lebanese American 
University. Their omission was purely an oversight. I ask my friend 
from Kentucky, the subcommittee chairman, Senator McConnell, if he 
agrees with me about this.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I do. My friend from Vermont is correct that this was 
an oversight. We intended to express support for the use of MEPI funds 
for scholarships for Muslim students at the other American universities 
in the Middle East, as well as at the American University of Beirut.

                          ____________________